When we look back on the first half of 2020 in years to come, we are convinced it will be a case of praising God for the extraordinary and the miraculous. It certainly hasn’t felt that way when we’ve been in the midst of uncertainty and confusion, and feeling stretched by financial difficulties. Despite all of the challenges, we’ve seen God move in wondrous ways, even with the impact of funding cuts and a global pandemic.
At the end of 2019 we closed our Rwamwanja office. It was an intensely difficult time. Saying goodbye to participants who had welcomed us into their families, and also to staff was very difficult - there is no easy way to let go of those who have been part of the fabric of your organization, and carried the vision and heart of our work. In addition, we had a last-minute change of plans regarding opening our Lebanon office, and made a hard decision to evacuate our International staff from Kurdistan due to rising tensions in the region. Despite all of this, our staff worldwide stepped up and adapted quickly in the midst of a global pandemic, putting in long hours to ensure that we could continue to serve those who desperately need our services now more than ever.
It was a difficult start, but our hearts remained strong in the fact that, as much as this took us by surprise, it was not a surprise to God. He was still working.
You, our partners, continued to give despite the financial difficulties you were facing. Some even went above and beyond to give through Facebook and online campaigns to fund our Heroes Journey Radio Program in Uganda and our Kurdistan COVID-19 response. We are so grateful for your kindness and generosity, and we ask that you continue to pray and stand with us as we continue to navigate the financial challenges we are presently facing.
Our teams took on the challenge of COVID-19 with creativity; writing, recording and producing a children’s radio program, training for teletherapy sessions, and undergoing preparation to expand the Heroes Journey, and implementing the Tutapona Institute.
When we look at this season of “above and beyond”, we are proud of our staff and the efforts that were made. Our team in Uganda signed partnerships with Education Cannot Wait, Jesuit Refugee Services, Save The Children and War Child Holland. Our response caught the attention of donors and institutional funding partners, allowing us to keep our staff on the ground, and also to expand our programs in ways that we couldn’t have imagined. The miracle of this is that, while the world was shutting down in 2020, God used this as a platform to answer our prayers from 2019.
Because of these partnerships, we have been able to relaunch our office in Rwamwanja, rehire some staff, and have been able to fill some of the positions that were left vacant.
But God didn’t stop there! Our children’s radio program has been translated into 4 languages, broadcasted into hundreds and thousands of homes. Our teams have received calls from people listening from as far away as South Sudan and even refugees living in Australia! We’ve been able to conduct hundreds of phone sessions, reaching people living in isolation, and have been able to take the time to train every field facilitator to deliver our children’s program.
In Kurdistan, our team adapted the GROW program specifically to be facilitated with families in their homes. This means that we now have the opportunity to work with entire family units as they embark on their healing journey together! And the results are incredible- participants who have gone through the program with their family members report a decrease in their trauma symptoms by nearly 70% after the program. Perhaps we would have never been able to see this level of emotional healing had we not needed to change our approach and adapt. God is using all things!
What we wrote in December has become the meditation of our spirits: “We do not lose heart because we know that "all of this happens so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:15). Today, 8 months later, we can testify to the truth of that.
We are honored, humbled, and overwhelmed with the goodness of God in this season. It’s safe to say that God’s maneuvering has taken us to places that we couldn’t have even hoped or imagined. God has provided. Where there was fear, God has brought peace. And where there was sorrow, God has brought joy. Tutapona’s message of hope, healing and forgiveness has reached people in a way that we could never have imagined. It hasn’t been easy, but it has been worth it.
We want to thank all of you who have stood with us, who have prayed and sought the Lord for us. We know that prayer moves mountains, and we are living in the evidence of that now. Thank you for giving, thank you for continuing to support, and thank you for loving those God has called us to serve.
Please continue to stand with us. Please continue to pray for healings and restorations and for miraculous provision. While we are so grateful for what we have seen God do through you and through our funding partners, we are still experiencing significant financial difficulty and uncertainty. Would you join us as we continue to press in for all of Tutapona’s needs to be met for our future?
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)
With Much Appreciation,
Carl & Julie Gaede
